Thank you and goodbye! (Blue Wings 10/2017)

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All good things come to an end at some stage. That is how I felt when Finnair contacted me in October and told me that they are renewing the concept of Blue Wings. Time to get a new roster of columnists.

A curious and open mind is often happy. For me, reading and writing equals happiness. It has been a privilege to write this column for 12 years. It all started in 2005. Since then I have written over 120 stories in this space. Two books have been published based on the texts, and I hope to publish a third one next year.

The basic aim of the column has been to deal with topics that are of interest to international readers visiting Finland and Finnish readers interested in international subjects. The great thing is that I have been able to write about whatever I want, things close to my heart.

Throughout the years of writing I have held various professional posts, which have inevitably influenced the topics. As a member of the European Parliament I wrote about things European. Sometimes I would make fun of European stereotypes; in other columns I would tell French presidents and Italian prime ministers about Finnish cuisine.

When I became a government minister I started writing about how to brand Finland, Finnish architecture, and travelling in Finland.

I also dealt with issues relating to foreign policy. One of my all-time favorites was a column in which I talked about the similarities of child minding and foreign policy. And naturally the idea came from my wife, who should get the credit for many of the ideas I have written about over the years.

As the years went on I moved on to more philosophical subjects, such as the art of being kind, body and mind, artificial intelligence, big data, and even the future of homo sapiens. Many of the columns were based on books that I read over the years.

The good thing with writing a column is that your brain is on constant look-out for topics. That means that you must keep on learning and reading.

But the best thing has been the feedback from you, the readers. Not a week goes by without someone commenting on the column, whether in person or via email or social media. The column has been widely quoted and used as teaching material in schools around Finland, as well as for lectures and speeches on many occasions. There has even been a study written on the columns.

My last column in this magazine makes me both happy and sad. Happy, becauseI firmly believe (and preach) that we all need to do new things, renew ourselves. Sad because I have truly loved writing for Blue Wings. The process of writing has been a source of renewal in and of itself.

So, to all of my readers, reviewers, and commentators over the years, I say thank you and goodbye. This has been a wonderful journey. Let’s keep on reading and writing. And please do stay in touch.

Big data – more than you want to know (Blue Wings 9/2017)

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Big data is one of those buzzwords that you may have heard mentioned over the past few years. If you are like me, you will have realised that it is important, but you may not have fully understood its meaning.

I have good news.

Writer, comedian, and broadcaster Timandra Harkness’ latest book, Big Data – does size matter? (2016, Bloomsbury), is a great reference for us social scientists who struggle to understand the complex world of data.

The simplest definition of big data can be found on Google, the biggest data collector of all. According to the almighty search-engine, big data is “extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions.”

We all provide big data with almost everything we do. You are most probably reading this on a Finnair flight, which you booked online. Through your mobile phone you will have revealed your preferred seat, favourite food, mode of transport, and travel destination. As you leave the plane you might jump into a taxi, which takes you to your favourite hotel. All registered on the net. You will probably post a picture or tell a story on your favourite social media. All before going for a run and recording it on your health app.

And naturally, you will be listening to your favourite music after watching a movie online, before booking a restaurant which was recommended on Trip Advisor. You can see where I’m going with this.

It’s a bit creepy, but big data knows where you are, where you have been, who your friends are, what makes you angry, who is falling in love with you, your favourite food and so much more. As a matter of fact, big data might just know you better than you know yourself.

Now, big data is, of course, great for business. It makes it easy to collect data and figure out consumer preferences and trends. It is equally great for science. By tracking disease patterns and analysing DNA and gene registers, scientists will be able to find cures.

This is truly exciting, but like any major change, it has its downside – most of which is linked to privacy. Unless you want to isolate yourself from society, it will be very difficult to stop being a provider of big data.

One of the things you can do is to decide what you want to keep private and from whom.

In any case you might want to reflect before the next time you type in your personal details in an online survey. Ask yourself who you are sharing the information with – and why.

Having read Harkness’ book helped me to understand the meaning of big data. I will probably not change my online habits radically, but at least I know what is happening with all the data that I voluntarily share.

New kid on the block (Blue Wings 8/2017)

You know that feeling when you change jobs or careers. Your senses are alert. It all feels new and fresh. You are excited about everything and everybody.

The learning curve is steep. You absorb new information like never before. And at times, you are a bit lost, but slowly you start putting the pieces together.

That is exactly how I have felt over the past two months. After some 20 years in academia, civil service, and international and national politics, I have become a banker. I can’t say if I have gone from bad to worse, but at least it doesn’t feel like it.

Working as Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been an exciting change. My training and background is more in political science and international relations rather than economics and finance. Yet the glue that keeps it all together is the European Union (EU). The EIB is the EU’s bank and has been since 1958.

It is perhaps the best kept secret of the EU. I am an EU nerd at best of times, but little did I know that the EIB is the biggest multilateral bank in the world. Bigger than the World Bank (WB) and 10 times bigger than the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Over the years I have had the honour to serve in various public capacities. Whenever I have been faced with a new task, it has taken me approximately four months to get acquainted with the job and half a year to feel comfortable. There are no shortcuts. You simply have to roll up your sleeves and get on with it.

I’ve had time to reflect and came up with these three things that I try to keep in mind when I start something new.

First, do not be afraid to ask stupid questions. It is better to try to understand than to pretend that you understand. Don’t nod like a Swede when a Dane is speaking “Scandinavian.” No, we do not understand Danish!

Second, work hard on the basics. If you do not get the foundation, it will be very difficult to build a clear picture of your new tasks ahead. Read, listen, discuss, write, observe. Try to soak in as much as possible. One piece at a time.

Third, be humble. It does not matter what your background is, you are the newcomer. What you have done in the past is useful, but it is in the past. Your new colleagues will have been there for longer and you have to respect that. You could be the best number-cruncher in the world (I am not!), but you have to realise that at the office it is all about human relations and empathy.

A curious mind loves to learn new things. Being the new kid on the block is fun. Even if they involve derivatives, swaps, and complicated acronyms. I want this feeling of excitement to last for as long as possible. And it will.

The importance of reading books (Blue Wings 7/2017)

I have a problem! And if you are anything like me, so do you. You read less and less books, and surf more and more on social media and the Internet.

Take our bookshelves at home. I am proud of our over 4,000 books. No, I have not read all of them, but certainly a majority.

I try to keep up with modern literature of many different genres, much like I enjoy reading classics, novels, history, philosophy, sport, biographies, international relations, and science.

I am still able to keep up a pace of approximately one book every two weeks, but I feel that this is not enough. I crave for more. Many of the books that I read give me food for thought for this column, and if you fly Finnair regularly you will have seen references to them.

But, here is the thing. My reading is becoming more sporadic. I spend too much time surfing around on my iPad and smartphone. I click from subject to subject, check my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Not to speak of my e-mail and text messages.

Modern communication channels are training my brain to read a paragraph or two and then move on to the next thing. Just clicking away. While writing this column I was texting with a friend and checked my social medias at least five times.

Neuroscientists have explained this phenomenon. We learn something new quickly and get a dopamine rush from it. A study with rats show that they prefer a dopamine fix over food and sex. We humans get the rush from e-mails and social media. Scary, but true.

Interestingly enough, studies show that surfing the web makes you more tired than intensive deep reading. Focusing hard for an hour is good for you and lack of time is just a poor excuse for not reading.

Essayist Charles Chu has calculated that we read about 400 words per minute. According to Chu it would take 420 hours to read about 200 books. That is a tad over one hour per day. Now I spend at least one hour exercising a day. And I probably spend more than that on social media or watching TV.

So, how about if we do something about it, together? I will try to implement a 1+1+1 hour rule for myself. That is, I will try to set aside one hour for reading books, one hour for exercising, and one hour for surfing social media per day.

My experiment begins on the first of September and ends exactly one year later. I will keep careful track of what I read and my aim will be to read 100 books. I have had an exercise journal since 2007, so nothing new there. Regulating social media might be a bit more difficult, but I will try.

Feel free to join me. I will post an update once a month on facebook.com/alexanderstubb and wrap it all up in a column a year from now.

An ode to kids (Blue Wings 6/2017)

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I remember hearing a lot of moaning about how bad I was as a kid, overly energetic and often up to mischief. It was not far from the truth, but my Dad always defended me. “Don’t worry, people always complain about today’s youths, it was like that even in Ancient Greece,” he said, calling me by my nickname, which was Tico.

He was right, of course. Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato were masters at teaching the young. They felt nothing could be nobler than getting youngsters to grapple with life’s big questions. That meant challenging tradition and authority. Now, I was no philosopher back then and probably challenged the wrong things, but my Dad’s advice stuck.

These days I still hear adults complaining about young people – they spend too much time on their smart phones or computers, don’t get outdoors enough, read fewer books than previous generations, and neither respect tradition nor behave in a respectful manner.

I think that’s all rubbish. Today’s youths are great! Much smarter, more polite, and better informed and well rounded than we ever were. Anyone who claims the opposite has either a selective or overly nostalgic memory of the past. We simply did not have what the Millennials have. Just stop for a second and think about it.

Getting information used tobe difficult and time-consuming, now everything is available online. The projects that kids do in school are nothing short of impressive. Most Millennials speak more languages than we do. When they leave home they will have seen more of the world, either through physical travel or virtual observation, than we ever did.

Technology has already transformed the way in which we interact with one another. Games such as Wordfeud connect grandparents and grandchildren across continents. Social media from Snapchat to Instagram allow users to share everyday life with friends and family. A plethora of visual communication apps from Facetime to Skype offer great ways to stay in touch.

Most importantly today’s youths are much more tolerant than we were. They respect difference, whether it is racial, sexual, or cultural. Their world is simply much more diverse than ours was, which is also reflected in the manner in which they behave toward their elders.

Every generation is smarter than the previous one. It’s what makes the world tick. Some call it evolution, I call it life. That’s how it is supposed to be. Nothing beats the feeling of your own children outsmarting you. For me, it happens daily, and I’m proud of it.